1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor package housing a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a semiconductor package which includes: a package body including a base part having a first surface and a second surface in the opposite side of the first surface, and a semiconductor device housing part provided on the first surface and housing a semiconductor device; and an electric terminal provided in the semiconductor device housing part, electrically connected to the semiconductor device housed in the semiconductor device housing part, and exposed on an outer surface of the semiconductor device housing part.
The semiconductor device is formed by implementing a desired circuit pattern on the surface of a substrate formed of a substrate material such as silicon and generates a large amount of heat from the circuit pattern during operation. If the temperature of the circuit pattern exceeds a certain temperature, the circuit pattern cannot exhibit its desired performance.
In such a conventional semiconductor package, at least the base part of the semiconductor package is constructed by a material with high thermal conductivity such as copper, aluminum, copper alloy, or aluminum alloy to dissipate heat generated by the semiconductor device. Heat generated by the semiconductor device housed in the semiconductor device housing part is conducted to the package body, mainly to the base part, and further to objects which are in contact with the package body, mainly the base part, such as a semiconductor package support member on which the base part is placed and by which the base part is supported, air around the package body and others to dissipate heat.
In recent years, with an increasingly higher degree of integration of the circuit pattern implemented on the semiconductor device and an increasing amount of heat generated by the semiconductor device, various structures to improve efficiency of heat conduction of the semiconductor package have been proposed.
Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2005-175006 discloses an example of the above described heat conduction efficiency improving structure. In this heat conduction efficiency improving structure, particles of diamond are dispersed in a base material made of metal and the surface of the base material is coated with a coating layer of the same material as the base material so that the coating layer prevents exposure of diamond particles from the surface of the base material.
With the heat conduction efficiency improving structure described in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2005-175006, it is not clear how to disperse particles of diamond in a base material made of metal. When particles of diamond are dispersed in a sheet of base material, particles of diamond are normally dispersed while the base material is being melted. However, a method for manufacturing such a heat conduction efficiency improving structure including melting of a base material is complicated and energy efficiency thereof is low. Moreover, the above structure becomes relatively thick.